Which American civilization is the source of the belief that the world would end or drastically change on December 21st, 2012?

The story behind the answer

The Mayans are linked to the 2012 phenomenon because their Long Count calendar completed a major cycle—the 13th bʼakʼtun—on December 21, 2012. Some modern interpretations mistook this rollover for a doomsday prediction. In Maya thought, however, time is cyclical; the end of a bʼakʼtun signaled renewal, not apocalypse—more like an odometer resetting than a car crashing.

Context helps memory: think “Maya = calendar math.” The Maya tracked time with extraordinary precision, and the “Mayan calendar” became famous in pop culture. Other American civilizations don’t fit: the Aztecs had the myth of successive “suns” but no 2012 date, the Incas used quipus and a different timekeeping system, and the Navajo (Diné) traditions don’t include a 2012 end-time. Remember: 2012 = Maya cycle reset, not the end of the world.